The Tallahassee – Leon County Office of Economic Vitality (OEV), is pleased to announce that Danfoss Turbocor Compressors will expand its local operations by adding a new facility and a Research and Development Competence center in Tallahassee. The new facility expands Danfoss’s existing presence at Innovation Park which currently includes engineering and manufacturing operations as well as the Application Development Center, which opened earlier this year.

The Office of Economic Vitality coordinated with local and state economic development partners to establish eligibility for funding, provided services and analytics to support the expansion in Tallahassee-Leon County, and worked with the leadership team at Danfoss to successfully convey the benefits of choosing our community for their expansion.

This expansion will create 120 new, full-time research and development jobs within advanced manufacturing, with high wage salaries at approximately 200% of Leon County’s annual wage. Construction of the new facility will begin early 2018 with completion in 2019.

Governor Scott said, “I’m proud to announce that Danfoss will be building a new facility and creating 120 new jobs for families in Leon County. Florida manufacturers like Danfoss help create job opportunities across our state, and we permanently eliminated the sales tax on manufacturing machinery and equipment last year to make it easier for these businesses to continue growing in Florida.”

“The expansion of advanced manufacturing in our community is critical for our sustained economic growth. The growth of Danfoss’s operations will bring this entire region to new heights,” said Leon County Commissioner Mary Ann Lindley, Chair of the Blueprint Intergovernmental Agency Board. “The new facility, along with the research and development center, will attract the brightest in the industry and will help to build Tallahassee-Leon County’s science, technology and economic momentum.”

Danfoss has developed strong partnerships with Florida’s Capital community, the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering, and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. This expansion strengthens the existing partnerships, and serves to distinguish Tallahassee-Leon County as a competitive global research and development location.

“In Tallahassee, we have the tremendous opportunity to collaborate with world-class researchers in aerodynamics, power electronics, and magnetic technologies,” said Ricardo Schneider, president, Danfoss Turbocor Compressors. “We are excited and proud to grow our capabilities here and build on the success and potential of our relationship with great local partners.”

“The creation of jobs is key to growing our local economy,” Blueprint IA Board Vice-Chair and Tallahassee City Commissioner Curtis Richardson said. “Partnerships are crucial when it comes to implementing strategies for attracting and expanding businesses thereby broadening our workforce. The Office of Economic Vitality is charged with leading these efforts and continues to demonstrate that Tallahassee is Florida’s Capital for Business.”

“Danfoss is a great example of what can happen at Innovation Park through collaboration between private industry and research universities,” stated Ron Miller, the Executive Director for the Leon County Research and Development Authority, the entity that oversees Innovation Park. “This collaboration, and the benefit of working in close proximity, adds value to each organization that can result in business growth, the commercialization of new technologies, and job creation. We’re delighted to work with Danfoss and our economic development partners to help make this expansion happen.”

Danfoss has developed strong partnerships with the Tallahassee – Leon County community and specifically with Florida A&M University and Florida State University College of Engineering and the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory. This expansion continues to forge partnerships within established local entities that further defines the Capital Region as a global research and development destination for business. The Tallahassee – Leon County Office of Economic Vitality estimates that this expansion will have a total economic impact of more than $129 million in the Tallahassee Metropolitan Statistical Area.